Machine for applying box-stays.



P 0. WELLMAN.

MACHINE FOR APPLYING BOX STAYS.

APPLICATION FILED my s, 1913.

1,097,112, PatentedMay19,1914;

7b 13 3 3 54 I I I HM w" II! i l I I J :u- "l' lji f 5' I w" v 0 o 9 3 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PERLEY WELLMAN, F EMPORIA, KANSAS.

MACHINE FOR 3 APPLYING BOX-STAYS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 19, 1914-.

Application filed May 6, 1913. Serial No. 765,889.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PERLEY C. l/VELLMAN, a citizen of the -United States, residing at Emporia, in the county of Lyon and State larly for use in applying wire or metal stays and clips tOdlOXGs of. light construction, such as are commonly used at the present time for the transportation of berries. fruit, etc.=

The machine hereinafter described is ad I vantageous in facilitating the application. of peculiarly shaped stays to the lower portion of the box or receptacle m such a manner.

that the stay forms not only a brace or reinforcement for the .bottom of the box but its ends are clamped and secured to the sides of the receptacle in" a very effective manner to accomplish the desired results.

A further object of the invention has been to design a machine of the type mentioned which is exceedingly simple in construction and readily suscep'tib-leof operation by a foot lever or equivalent manually operable means. the latter being capable of actuating levers which force clamping jaws into cooperation with a' stationary head, all. of

-which will be clear upon'rct'crence to the de tailed specification of parts. found herein after and to the accompanying drawings, in which i Figure 1 is a, perspective view of a machine embodying the invention, the manual operating means omitted. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the machine bringing out clearly the manner in which the foot lever is connected with the levers that actuate the jaws, and showing a stay in the process of being applied to a box, the latter being broken away. Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the upper parts of the device. Fig. 4: 1s afragmentary view illustrating the manner in which the invention is employed in'applying clips to the box.

In'the drawings, A designates a base plate which is screwed or otherwise secured upon a bed that may'consist of a table, bench, or

similar support Suitable fastenings C,

such as screws are employed to connect the plate A with the support Intermediate its ends, the base plate A has an upwardly projecting head 1, the lower portion of which is provided with a longitudinal opening 2. Jaws 3 are mounted to slide lengthwise of the plate A and said jaws are provided with shanks 3 that are received and operate in the opening 2 of the head 1. A

spiral spring a in said opening 2 is.interposed between the inner adjacent ends of the shanks 3 of said jaws 3 and said spring being expansive in tension, tends to force the jaws 3 apart-in opposite directions relative to each other. The jaws 3, by reason of their disposition in respect to the head 1 are situated adjacent to the opposite ends of the head-and are movable toward and from.

said ends.

. Pivotally mounted upon the base plate A are the actuating levers 5. Each lever 5 is pivoted intermediate its ends at 5 and is formed with what may be termed a cam extremity .5, which operates in slidingengagement with the outer side of the adjacent jaw 3. In other words, each jaw 3 is prae tically lo 'ated between one end of the head 1 and the adjacent cam extremity 5 of a lever 5.

v Operating means for the jaws 3 is provided in the form of a foot lever' 6 pivoted to the floor of the room in which the machine may be situated. Said foot lever 61s connected by a rod, cable, or similar member 7 with a link 8. The link 8 in turn is conncted with small links 9 whichare attached to the adjacent ends of the actuating levers 5. the latter ends being located beneath the plate A. Suitable slots are formed in the plate A through which the levers 5 pass, as may be readily observed upon reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings.

Describing the operation of the invention, Fig. 2 illustrates the machine with the parts arranged as when applying a wire stay to the bottom portion of a common form of berry box. It may be observed that the opposite ends of the head 1 really form die faces coiiperating with the jaws 3 and said faces are grooved as shown at 1, the inner faces of the jaws 3 being similarly grooved as shown at 3 and the upper surface of the head 1 having a longitudinal roove. shown at 1. The groove. 1 is provided to form a seat for the body of the stay designated at 10. whereas the grooves 1 and 3 are supplied in order to insure that the ends of the stay 10 will be held in proper position during the operation of clampingsaid ends in engagement with the sides of the box 11. I In other words, the grooves l and 3 counteract anytendency of the stay 10 to slip out of the space between the jaws 3 and the die faces at the ends of the head.

Assuming that the parts are arranged substantially in. the positions shown in Fig. 2,

it is observed that by depressing the footv are in this manner effectively clamped into firm engagement with the sides of the box 11, whilethe intermediate or body portion of the stay is also in this manner pressed tightly, against the bottom of the box so as to brace and reinforce the latter in an adequate manner against sagging, which has become a great defect in boxes of this special construction. It will be notedthat the long arms of the levers 5 are lowermost, the cam extremities 5 constituting the short arms,

this detail affording powerful action of the jaws 3 on the ends of the stay to clip the latter on the sides of the box, as will be readily apparent.

In Fig. 4, the invention is illustrated in the operation of applying a clip of U-form to a box for the purpose of connecting lapped-over portions of the material from which the receptacle is made. It is obvious that, in applying such a clip, designated at 12, the action of only a single jaw 3 is required, whereas, in securing the stay 10 to the box, the simultaneous action of the jaws 3 is necessary.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a machine. of the class described, the combination of a base. plate. a head projecting upwardly from said plate and having one end thereof constituting a die face,

said head being also provided with an opening therem,a aw slldably mounted on the base plate and having ashank mounted tomove in said opening of the head so that the jaw may cooperate with the die face of the latter, a lever pivoted between its ends to the base plate and having a cam extremity lmpinglng the outer slde of the aw to force the latter toward the head, and

means for actuating said lever.

60. said head beingalso provided with an opening therein, a jaw slidably mounted on the base plate and having a shank mounted to the base plate and having a cam extremity impinging the outer side of the aw to force the latter toward the head, means for actuating said lever, and a spring housed in said opening of the head and normally tending to force the jaw outwardly into a position spaced from the die face aforesaid.

' 3. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a basecplate having a head projecting therefrom, a pair of jaws slidably mounted on said base plate and movable toward and from opposite portions of the head, levers having cam extremities engaging the outer sides of the jaws to force the same toward the head, means for simultaneously operating said levers, the head being provided with a. longitudinal opening and the jaws having shanks operating in said opening, and a coiled spring interposed between the adjacent ends of the shanks and tending to force the same outwardly from the head.

4. In a machine of the class described,the combination of a head having die faces at its opposite ends, a pair of jaws slidable toward and from the die faces of the head, I

levers having end portions thereof enga'ging the jaws at their outer sides, means for actuating said levers to force the jaws toward the head, said head being provided with a longitudinal opening and the jaws having shanks freely slidable in said opening, and spring means tending to force said jaws apart in directions away from the head.

5. In a machine of the class described, the

combination of a base plate, a head projecting upwardly therefrom and having at its lower portion a longitudinal opening therethrough, jaws comprising shanks sliding freely in said opening and on the base plate, a spiral spring interposed between the inner ends of the shanks and tending to force the jaws out-wardly away from opposite ends of the head, levers passing through the base plate and having cam extremities engaging the outer sides of the jaws above the plate, and the lower ends arranged beneath the plate, and a link connected with the lower ends of the levers to simultaneously operate the same, the inner sides of the jaws and cooperating ends of the head being grooved for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PERLEY C. VVELLMAN. Witnesses:

LLOYD B. HELTZEL, WILLIAM H. J ONES. 

